Ely Ould Mohamed Vall
2373664
200794869
2008-03-25T13:45:02Z
David Gerard
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{{Infobox_President | name=Ely Ould Mohamed Vall<br>إعلي ولد محمد فال
| image = Replace this image male.svg <!-- only free-content images are allowed for depicting living people - see [[WP:NONFREE]] --> |
| nationality= [[Mauritanian]]
| order= Chairman of the [[Heads of state of Mauritania|Military Council for Justice and Democracy]]
| term_start= [[August 3]], [[2005]]
| term_end=[[19 April]] [[2007]]
| predecessor= [[Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya|Maaouya Ould Taya]]
| successor= [[Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi]]
| birth_date= [[1953]]
| birth_place= [[Nouakchott]], [[Mauritania]]
| deatd=alive
| spouse=
| party=
| religion= [[Sunni Islam]]
| vicepresident=
}}
[[Colonel]] '''Ely Ould Mohamed Vall''' ({{lang-ar|إعلي ولد محمد فال}}; born [[1953]] in [[Nouakchott]]) was the military leader of [[Mauritania]] from a [[coup d'état]] in [[August 2005]] until [[19 April]] [[2007]], when he relinquished power to an elected government.
Vall was a long-time ally of President [[Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya|Maaouya Ould Taya]], and participated in the December [[1984]] coup that brought Taya to power. Prior to the 2005 coup, he had been director of the national police force, the ''[[Sûreté Nationale]]'', since [[1987]].<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4746387.stm "Mauritania's new military leader"], BBC.co.uk, August 8, 2005.</ref><ref>[http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?l=1&id=4075&m=1 "Political Transition in Mauritania"], International Crisis Group, April 24, 2006.</ref>
On [[3 August]] [[2005]], Taya was ousted in a bloodless military coup while he was out of the country.<ref name="Coup">[http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=55696 "Army seizes power to end "totalitarian regime""], IRIN, August 3, 2005.</ref> A group of officers took power as the [[Military Council for Justice and Democracy]] and announced that Vall was the head of the council.<ref name="Condemn">[http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=55712 "New military rulers face worldwide condemnation"], IRIN, August 4, 2005.</ref> He did not take the title of president because he said it should be reserved for elected leaders.<ref name=Vogt>Heidi Vogt, [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/23/AR2006042300755.html "Mauritania Leader Aims to Avoid Oil Curse"], Associated Press (''The Washington Post''), April 23, 2006.</ref>
The new regime, condemned Ould Taya's government as "totalitarian",<ref name="Coup"/> promised to lead the country to elections and the restoration of civilian rule within two years; a referendum on a new constitution was planned to be held within a year, and parliamentary and presidential elections would follow. Vall and the other members of the military council agreed not to run for president.<ref name="Sadi">Hademine Ould Sadi, [http://www.middle-east-online.com/English/mauritania/?id=14225 "Mauritania's new junta keeps on winning friends"], Middle East Online, August 8, 2005.</ref>
The coup was greeted with widespread support within Mauritania, but outside the country there was sharp condemnation. The [[African Union]] (which suspended Mauritania's membership), the [[European Union]], [[United Nations]] Secretary General [[Kofi Annan]], and the [[United States]] all condemned the coup.<ref name="Sadi"/> However, this opposition weakened after several days and the regime appeared to win tacit international acceptance.<ref>Hademine Ould Sadi, [http://www.middle-east-online.com/English/mauritania/?id=14245 "Military rulers in Mauritania win AU backing"], Middle East Online, August 10, 2006.</ref>
Vall maintained Mauritania's diplomatic relationship with [[Israel]].<ref name=Vogt/> Mauritania and Israel initiated full diplomatic relations in 1999 under Taya, a decision which contributed to the latter's unpopularity. After the coup, [[Ahmed Ould Sid'Ahmed]], who had been foreign minister at the time diplomatic relations were established, was reappointed to the position.<ref>Ahmed Mohamed, [http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20050810-1401-mauritania-freedislamists.html "Freed Islamic leaders in Mauritania say ousted leader's policies fomented extremism"], Associated Press, August 10, 2005.</ref>
The constitutional referendum was held on [[June 25]], [[2006]] and approved by 97% of voters.<ref>[http://www.middle-east-online.com/English/mauritania/?id=16850 "Mauritania's constitution gets 96.96% yes vote"], Middle East Online, June 28, 2006.</ref> The new constitution limits presidents to two five-year terms (under Taya, presidential terms had lasted six years and there was no limit on re-election) and requires a president to swear not to change the term limits (several other African countries have seen term limits removed from their constitutions so that presidents could continue to run for re-election).<ref>Todd Pitman, [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/25/AR2006062500507.html "Oil-Rich Mauritania Holds Historic Vote"], Associated Press (''The Washington Post''), June 25, 2006.</ref><ref>Todd Pitman, [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/26/AR2006062600267.html "Mauritania Step Closer to Civilian Rule"], Associated Press (''The Washington Post''), June 26, 2006.</ref> Vall toured the country beforehand to promote it and called it a "historical opportunity".<ref>[http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=59433 "Military junta launches pro-democracy poll"], IRIN, June 23, 2006.</ref> [[Mauritanian parliamentary election, 2006|Parliamentary and local elections]] were held on [[November 19]], 2006, which Vall praised as "the first time Mauritanians have been able to express themselves freely"; he also said that the difficulty of changing the constitution would preserve democracy in the future. Vall announced that he would step down after the [[Mauritanian presidential election, 2007|March 2007 presidential election]].<ref>Daniel Flynn, [http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/CrisesArticle.aspx?storyId=L21848174&WTmodLoc=World-R5-Alertnet-2 "INTERVIEW-Mauritania junta chief hails new democratic era"], Reuters, November 21, 2006.</ref> The election was ultimately won by [[Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi]] in the second round of voting. Abdallahi's opponents alleged that his candidacy was supported by Vall's regime.<ref name=Reassuring>[http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=86&art_id=nw20070326150809880C569157 "Mauritania has a new president"], AFP (''IOL''), March 26, 2007.</ref> Prior to the handover, Mauritania was allowed back into the African Union on [[April 10]].<ref>[http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=86&art_id=nw20070410220850654C345416 "Mauritania readmitted to AU"], AFP (''IOL''), April 11, 2007.</ref> On [[April 19]], Abdallahi took office, completing the transition to civilian democratic rule.<ref>[http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/77A31F44-E015-46AB-9076-E9A9274F7050.htm "Mauritania swears in new president"], Al Jazeera, April 19, 2007.</ref>
==References==
<references/>
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{{succession box | before = [[Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya]]| title = Chairman of the [[Heads of state of Mauritania|Military Council for Justice and Democracy]]| years= [[2005]] – [[2007]]| after = [[Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi]]}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Vall, Ely Ould Mohamed}}
[[Category:1953 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Mauritanian politicians]]
[[Category:Leaders who took power by coup]]
[[ar:إعلي ولد محمد فال]]
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[[pl:Ili uld Muhammad Fal]]
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[[zh:埃利·乌尔德·穆罕默德·瓦勒]]